Some towns/cities have a strap line usually concocted by the local
tourist committees such as ' Say Leeds and you're already smiling'. Well
PD's could be... 'port douglas,where the posh people come and rotten
backpackers can't afford.' This place is really rather nice with all of
the restaurants being way out of our budget (hmm and helicopter rides and
scenic flights are?) a lovely 4 mile stretch of beach-aptly named 4
mile beach, a modern marina complex, boutique shops and stunning views
over the water. Don't get me wrong this place will help to releave you of
your money just as happily as cairns will but under a mask of
pleasantries and the promise of a nicer calibre of tourist. With this is mind we
emptied our wallets and bought a boat trip to the reef and a jolly up
to cape tribulation.
Now the great barrier reef is named not because of its vast size but
because it is great. It could be called the brilliant barrier reef or the
wow this really is amazing reef. Our carefully chosen boat (despite
chris being adamant he would never board a vessel called the poseidon)
took us to to agincourt ribbon reefs. The best kind of reef we hear and
boy they were not wrong.we both opted for different underwater
experiences as I was happy to snorkel and chris was keen to top up his log book
with more dives. It was one of the most beautiful experiences you could
imagine.coral gardens everywhere,large bommies appearing before your
eyes with more fish than I can begin to tell you about. From little tiny clown fish to the bad boy rock cods and maouri wrasse. I was able to
hold an orange knobbly rubbery thing (not sure if it an animal, vegetable
or mineral or that I should be touching it at all but we were all
encouraged to do so). I also saw my first shark which I reckon was the same
size as me and a comfortable distance away. Nice sharkey shark, theres
a good boy. I was so excited to see one and anxious to point it out to
my swim buddy that I forgot to poo my pants. Well done me. Having
survived swimming with sharks maybe I will try my hand at crocodile wrestling
...then again maybe not.
The next day we trotted off to the Daintree NP and Cape Tribulation.
Sadly the weather was a bit rubbish and so none of it looked like the
Peter Lik photos we were expecting. Nevertheless we walked through
beautiful lush tropical rainforest, gazed at crystal clear waters in Mossman
Gorge, discovered deserted beaches at Stingray Bay that only the tribes
people visit for fishing, took a ride down the Daintree river keeping a
beady eye on those riverbank crocs and ate tropical fruit icecream made
of fruits I had never even heard of like jaboticaba, sapote and jakfruit. Answer me this...why in the world would anyone plant durian fruit to flavour icecream? It smells like
rotting monkey flesh and tastes like ghandi's armpit. seriously what's
wrong with plain old raspberry ripple?
Unfortunately the weather did not improve during our stay but we hung
about window shopping and getting drunk on good aussie cheap wine (oh yes that's definitely in the budget).
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